Two brothers were remanded in custody Tuesday on suspicion they tried to fire-bomb the home of a Swedish artist facing death threats for drawing the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog.

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The brothers, aged 19 and 21, were arrested at the weekend after a small fire slightly damaged the home of controversial artist Lars Vilks in the southern Swedish village of Nyhamnslaege.

The attack with Molotov cocktails, overnight Friday to Saturday when Lars Vilks was not at home, blackened part of the exterior, but the fire went out by itself.

The brothers, whose names were not disclosed, are Swedish nationals of Kosovar origin who reside in the southern city of Landskrona and who were arrested after personal items were found near the scene, police said.

Vilks has faced numerous death threats and a suspected assassination plot since his drawing of the Muslim prophet was first published by Swedish regional daily Nerikes Allehanda to illustrate an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.

The cartoon prompted protests by Muslims in the town of Oerebro, west of Stockholm, where the newspaper is based, while Egypt, Iran and Pakistan made formal complaints.

An Al-Qaeda front organisation then offered 100,000 dollars to anyone who murdered Vilks -- with an extra 50,000 if his throat was slit -- and 50,000 dollars for the death of Nerikes Allehanda editor-in-chief Ulf Johansson.

Four men and three women, all Muslims originally from Morocco and Yemen, were arrested in southern Ireland in March over an alleged plot to assassinate him.

Only last week, Vilks was attacked by around 20 people while giving a lecture at the Uppsala University, north of Stockholm.

Despite the repeated attacks and threats, the 63-year-old artist has refused to keep a low profile, to move or even to keep his address secret.

Even after Saturday's attack, he told AFP "I shouldn't be paranoid. This could be a one-off occasion," but acknowledged that he would "have a hide away for some time."